Domingo suffered lower abdominal pain while touring in Tokyo in February and later returned to New York for a physical. Soon after, London's Royal Opera House announced that Domingo would not be performing in Handel’s “Tamerlano” as scheduled for March, but would be undergoing “preventative surgery.”

Domingo has been ordered by his doctors to rest for six weeks, but is expected to return to the stage in "Simon Boccanegra" at La Scala in Milan on April 16, according to his website. He will continue to work as the director of the Los Angeles and Washington Operas.